In the market for a new GPU, thoughts?

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forums, but I appreciate being part of this community. My GTX 580 MSI just crapped out on me yesterday after about 4.5 years of regular use. Therefore, I'm in the market for a new card at the price range of $300-$375 (Thus the new 1070's and 1080's are out of my price range). TBH, I wasn't that impressed with MSI. First card I got from newegg had MAJOR overheating issues (we're talking 90+C). RMA ---> second card was LITERALLY falling apart. I took it out of the box to hear a clanking noise as two screws fell out of the bottom of the card! Closer inspection revealed that the card appeared to have undergone an attempt at being pulled apart. RMA ---> third card, again had major overheating issues (85+ C). Finally, by the fourth card everything was working fine with temps at about 69-73C. Not only that, but the MSI cards regularly gave me green screen crashes with BF3, BF4, and Assassin's Creed Blackflag. It was something I just managed to live with, but no amount of tech support, RMA'ing cards, driver updates, or research over those 4.5 years resolved the problem (but it was identified that MSI cards were the problem). Therefore, I'm giving MSI a break for a while. Some may feel the need to tell me to give MSI another try, but tbh I'm just not going to do it (at least not without trying another company first). So you can try and convince me, but I'll be honest, it's not going to happen this buy.

Next on my list is EVGA. I've always heard good things about the company and the cards so I'm thinking about giving that a try. In particular their 970 SSC card. I know there is still a good deal of, shall we say controversy, over their vram, but I don't plan on playing 4k. So I don't think I'll run into any problems with my gaming slowing for 3-4 years (which will probably be time for a new card anyway). Nevertheless, I would like to hear people's opinions. What would you suggest for that price range of $300-$375? Is the EVGA 970 SSC a good buy? Is it a smart buy given all the controversy?

Thank you and looking forward to hearing opinions.

look at 980, non ti cards also, 970's are great cards and only 1% of owners see the vram issue.

Two options for new tech cards here. http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1748?vs=1771 Each has its strong points, pointed out in the comparison. Depends on what you play and what you play it on.

Oh, and welcome to OC!

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I did look at the 980's, but they're still a bit too expensive for my taste. I payed $500 for my 580 4.5 years ago and, TBH, I don't know how I feel about getting *80+ cards anymore for gaming. Apparently, these cards are only supposed to last 4-5 years, which is about the time you would need a new card to get good graphics on games anyway, so why not go with something cheaper? I mean yea, if you plan on playing 4k gaming with maxed out ultra settings for the next 3-4 years I could maybe see it. But if you just want to play on med-high settings, a 970 would seem to do just fine for the next 4-5 years. That being said, I personally don't find it justifiable to pay extra for those -80's+.

Alaric, you think going with a 1060 would be better than going with a 970 SSC?

The 1060 (stock speeds) pretty thoroughly beats the 970 (stock) all the way around. BUT, 970 prices have come down a lot. You will get more performance for the extra $50 or $60, but whether or not it's worth it is your call. How many/what resolution monitor(s) do you use, and how important will DX12 be to you? With one 1080p monitor a 970 should be a good card for a while still. A little more power usage, but if $10 a year is a problem you probably wouldn't be looking at a new card.

I bought my RX 480 because it was available and had the best bang/buck ratio at the time within my budget. If I were buying a new card now with the same budget I would get the GTX 1060. I may get another 480 and Xfire ($500 for 1080 performance!) but Xfire and SLI support in games is probably on borrowed time with single card solutions being as good as they are.

An interesting read here http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...iews/73040-nvidia-gtx-1060-6gb-review-21.html

Yeah, I'm working with a single monitor at 1080p, and yes, DX12 is pretty important to me. But in all honesty, $375 is my max. If it wasn't, I would have said $425 lol. But then of course someone could have said an extra $10 a year more than that isn't much putting me at $465 hah. So unfortunately, I can't spend more than that, even $10 more...

For DX 12 on 1080p the RX 480 is a cost/benefit winner. For the current generation of new cards you're looking at a RX 480 or GTX 1060. The majority of games are still DX 11, and at 1080p the 1060 is a clear winner. The 1060 beats the 970 across the board for a few dollars more and comes in well under your $375 cap. Newegg has an Asus Strix OC for $330. I would look at that and check some benchmark comparisons and prices on the competition. Honestly, anything more for 1080p is mostly for bragging rights, IMO.

I just checked the pricing on the RX 480. Wow. It seems a little (!?) greed has crept in to the equation. Reference cards are around $300 currently. IMO that gives the nod to the GTX 1060. If they're going to be the same price I would go Team Green. With current pricing and availability of the 480 I may sell mine and bump up to a 1070.

IceKnight366 said:

Yeah, I'm working with a single monitor at 1080p, and yes, DX12 is pretty important to me. But in all honesty, $375 is my max. If it wasn't, I would have said $425 lol. But then of course someone could have said an extra $10 a year more than that isn't much putting me at $465 hah. So unfortunately, I can't spend more than that, even $10 more...

Click to expand...

Rx 480 or 1060 bud. That's what I would choose... and that would be the 1060 as its a but faster overall.

Edit: there are hardly any cards in Stock which is why you are seeing the inflated prices. That said I see plenty there from 199 on up, just not in stock.

Yep for buying new you are looking at a 1060 vs rx480. If you look in the used market you can find 980tis in your price range.

I am in the same boat as you, my 290 reference card burned itself up from bad design. I have been looking for a while and like you looked at the 970 for a bit but honestly it is overpriced for older tech and have decided on the 1060 or 480. That being said the prices are way up on all cards because of imposed shortages, with those cards way overpriced right now to. I am only waiting now on supply to get better and non reference cards getting into the market so the vendor greed will stop.

Thank you for all the great input guys. Because of it I'm starting to steer towards the 1060. However, there aren't any in stock! Just spoke to EVGA and they said I could get the 970 SSC and then use their Step Up program to get a 1060 for no additional price once they come back in stock. What do you guys think of that? Seems like a pretty good idea to me!

I assume you mean a 970? That would be terrible to downgrade from a 1070 to a 1060 for no cost...

Oops! Yes, that's what I meant. I edited the post accordingly.

If looking at GTX970, Look for R9 290/x too, They are real cheap now! Also 390 are even better cause lower temps and lower power consumption. But what is your power supply? i think itll be enough cause you had GTX580 but to be sure give us the details of your system

And if EVGA suggested that program, Go for it i guess, But 330$? idk about that...

M@rk said:

If looking at GTX970, Look for R9 290/x too, They are real cheap now! Also 390 are even better cause lower temps and lower power consumption. But what is your power supply? i think itll be enough cause you had GTX580 but to be sure give us the details of your system

And if EVGA suggested that program, Go for it i guess, But 330$? idk about that...

Click to expand...

$330 is where the (not in stock) GTX 1060 is sitting. Essentially, for $330 he gets a nice 970 to use until the 1060 is in stock. With EVGA's reputation in customer service I would be tempted to take that deal. I agree with ED, the 1060 will be a little better than the 480 overall. There are only a few very specific benchmarks that put the 480 even or ahead (barely) of the 1060, and the current 480 pricing wipes out the only advantage it had. If 480 8 GB prices drop back to $250 I'll buy another, but only because I already have one. A brand new 970 for nothing more than a little patience is a pretty sweet deal.

Alaric said:

$330 is where the (not in stock) GTX 1060 is sitting. Essentially, for $330 he gets a nice 970 to use until the 1060 is in stock. With EVGA's reputation in customer service I would be tempted to take that deal. I agree with ED, the 1060 will be a little better than the 480 overall. There are only a few very specific benchmarks that put the 480 even or ahead (barely) of the 1060, and the current 480 pricing wipes out the only advantage it had. If 480 8 GB prices drop back to $250 I'll buy another, but only because I already have one. A brand new 970 for nothing more than a little patience is a pretty sweet deal.

Click to expand...

I dont understand why people compare the RX480 8GB model to the GTX 1060, The RX480 4GB model is in a different pricerange and gives almost the same performance as the 8GB for 50$ less..

PSU: Corsair HX 750W

It's in my sig

The RX 480 8 GB did have a big price advantage over the 1060. For the slight gain in performance the 1060 wouldn't have been worth the extra cash, IMO. Unfortunately, RX 480 8 GB prices have jumped high enough to negate that advantage. The 4 GB cards run the memory a little slower (1750 MHz vs. 2000 MHz) and are overall benching behind the 8 GB cards. Again, the difference upon release made the 4 GB cards a non issue, but now your point is valid. The 480s do best with DX 12 but still only show a clear advantage in some titles and not in all resolutions across those titles. The 4 GB cards even less so. The 4 GB cards are a much better value now, though. 8 GB 480 vs. 1060 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1748?vs=1771 4 GB 480 vs. 1060 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1749?vs=1771

So with the OP's stated budget cap of $375 I really don't see any alternative to the 1060 except a refurbished 980. And the places the 980 shows any advantage may well be fixed by driver improvements for the 1060. At least that's my take on the OP's situation, for what it's worth. Oh, and Hi, Mark!

^ I am with Alaric all the way.